Emitted
as the result of thermonuclear reactions in the core of the sun and
supernovae, the ghostlike elementary particles called "neutrinos"
usually travel unnoticed through space, in immense numbers and across
vast distances. However, the discovery that these erstwhile phantoms
have mass and are polymorphous generated substantial notice from the
media on Earth.

he announcement on June 18, 2001 of the first physics results from
the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) in which it was shown that
solar neutrinos have a mass and can "oscillate" or change
their identity en route from the sun to the Earth made headlines in
newspapers all over the globe. The discovery was even the subject
of an entire broadcast of the popular ABC news show Nightline.